(a)  The director of the department of health, chief administrative officer, board members, and their agents and employees are immune from suit in any action, civil or criminal, based on any disciplinary proceeding or other official act performed in good faith in the course of their duties under this chapter. There is no civil liability on the part of, or cause of action of any nature against, the board, director, their agents or their employees, or against any organization or its members, peer-review board or its members, or other witnesses and parties to board proceedings for any statements made in good faith by them in any reports, communications, or testimony concerning an investigation by the board of the conduct or competence of a licensed physician or limited registrant.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-37-1.5

  • Board: means the Rhode Island board of medical licensure and discipline or any committee or subcommittee thereof. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-37-1
  • Chief administrative officer: means the administrator of the Rhode Island board of medical licensure and discipline. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-37-1
  • Department: means the Rhode Island department of health. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-37-1
  • Director: means the director of the Rhode Island department of health. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-37-1
  • Limited registrant: means a person holding a limited-registration certificate pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-37-1
  • Peer-review board: means any committee of a state or local professional association or society including a hospital association, or a committee of any licensed healthcare facility, or the medical staff thereof, or any committee of a medical-care foundation or health-maintenance organization, or any committee of a professional-service corporation or nonprofit corporation employing twenty (20) or more practicing professionals, organized for the purpose of furnishing medical service, or any staff committee or consultant of a hospital-service or medical-service corporation, the function of which, or one of the functions of which, is to evaluate and improve the quality of health care rendered by providers of healthcare services or to determine that healthcare services rendered were professionally indicated or were performed in compliance with the applicable standard of care or that the cost of health care rendered was considered reasonable by the providers of professional healthcare services in the area and shall include a committee functioning as a utilization-review committee under the provisions of Rhode Island General Laws 5-37-1
  • Person: means any individual, partnership, firm, corporation, association, trust or estate, state or political subdivision, or instrumentality of a state. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-37-1
  • Physician: means a person with a license to practice allopathic or osteopathic medicine in this state under the provisions of this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-37-1
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • unprofessional conduct: as used in this chapter includes, but is not limited to, the following items or any combination of these items and may be further defined by regulations established by the board with the prior approval of the director:

    (1)  Fraudulent or deceptive procuring or use of a license or limited registration;

    (2)  All advertising of medical business that is intended or has a tendency to deceive the public;

    (3)  Conviction of a felony; conviction of a crime arising out of the practice of medicine;

    (4)  Abandoning a patient;

    (5)  Dependence upon controlled substances, habitual drunkenness, or rendering professional services to a patient while the physician or limited registrant is intoxicated or incapacitated by the use of drugs;

    (6)  Promotion by a physician or limited registrant of the sale of drugs, devices, appliances, or goods or services provided for a patient in a manner as to exploit the patient for the financial gain of the physician or limited registrant;

    (7)  Immoral conduct of a physician or limited registrant in the practice of medicine;

    (8)  Willfully making and filing false reports or records in the practice of medicine;

    (9)  Willfully omitting to file or record, or willfully impeding or obstructing a filing or recording, or inducing another person to omit to file or record, medical or other reports as required by law;

    (10)  Failing to furnish details of a patient's medical record to succeeding physicians, healthcare facility, or other healthcare providers upon proper request pursuant to Rhode Island General Laws 5-37-5.1

(b)  No licensed healthcare provider, physician, or limited registrant may discharge, threaten, or discriminate against an employee, staff member, or any other person for making a report to, giving testimony to, or providing any other communication to the board, a peer-review organization, or any appropriate supervisory personnel concerning the unprofessional conduct or incompetence or negligence of a physician or limited registrant; provided, that the report, testimony, or other communication was made in good faith.

History of Section.
P.L. 1986, ch. 301, § 6; P.L. 1986, ch. 350, § 11.